Iraqi tips paying off with arrests

Army receiving more leads in hunt for Hussein aides

BAGHDAD — U.S. troops have arrested several people believed to be Saddam Hussein's bodyguards and have begun a dialogue with one of his wives, developments the U.S. military hopes will help them close in on the former Iraqi leader.

Troops conducted a raid late Thursday night at a house south of Tikrit, Hussein's hometown, and took into custody 13 people, U.S. military officials said Friday. Five to 10 of the detainees may belong to Hussein's security detail.

Also Friday, the U.S. military took the unprecedented step of allowing journalists to videotape and broadcast images of the bullet-riddled bodies of Hussein's sons to Iraq and the rest of the world.

Many Iraqis doubt that a firefight Tuesday between U.S. troops and gunmen holed up in a house in the northern city of Mosul ended with the deaths of Udai and Qusai Hussein. They have demanded visual proof, even after the U.S. military released photos of the two dead men Thursday.

Like the Mosul raid, the operation near Tikrit was undertaken after an informant came forward.

Becoming better informed

While U.S. presence in Iraq continues to meet with strong resistance and ambushes, the hunt for top Hussein aides and loyalists has been helped by solid tips from informants in recent days.

A tip led U.S. troops to a large cache of guns, explosives and grenade launchers buried outside of a house near Samarra.

While the troops have not found their biggest quarry, Hussein himself, they have talked to one of his wives who lives in the Tikrit area, Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno told reporters.

"I believe that we continue to tighten the noose," he said. "I believe that we continue to gain more and more information about where he might be."

The amount of tips has risen since the deaths of Hussein's sons, Odierno said, a sign that the reward offers are producing results.

U.S. officials said the informant who revealed that the brothers were at the villa in Mosul would likely receive $30 million in reward money.

The Bush administration is hoping that the deaths of Hussein's sons dramatically reduces resistance to the U.S. presence in Iraq. Both men were notorious for torturing and executing their countrymen.

However, most Iraqis remain highly suspicious of U.S. motives and doubt that Udai and Qusai Hussein were killed in the gun battle. A day after releasing the facial photos, American military officials agreed to allow a group of journalists to photograph and film the bodies at a makeshift military morgue.

Broadcast on Arabic television networks, the graphic images showed the brothers' bodies on gurneys, side by side. Distorted by wounds inflicted during the firefight, their faces underwent reconstruction to better resemble how the men looked when they were alive.

The military also displayed identifying evidence, including dental records and a bar that had been inserted in Udai's leg after an assassination attempt in the mid-1990s.

Autopsies were conducted, with a final report expected in six weeks. U.S. officials said the remains would be stored at Baghdad International Airport until claimed by a family member.

Grumbling over arrests

Arrested on Friday were two men suspected of killing a U.S. soldier and his Iraqi interpreter in a highway attack.

In all, 16 people were detained in the raid in Fahhama, a small tribal village north of Baghdad. Villagers said troops stormed in about 3:30 a.m. and announced they were arresting the local tribe's sheik and members of his family on suspicion of involvement in Monday's bomb attack.

Villagers denied that the sheik, Mohammed Abdul-Jabbar, or his family was involved in the attack and said the early-morning raid hardened them against U.S. rebuilding efforts.

"Up until yesterday we were friendly and peaceful with the Americans," said Oday Shakir, 32, a taxi driver. "There was no anger toward American troops. Until now."

U.S. efforts to rebuild Iraq got a boost Friday when the Japanese parliament voted to send troops to provide non-combat assistance. Japan envisions sending a contingent of 1,000 combat engineers to help with transportation and rebuilding tasks.